BLM officials explain procedure for handling Eightmile Fire

By Carie Canterbury

canterburyc@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
06/30/2014 09:14:46 PM MDT

During a safety meeting Monday, crews and officials working on the Eightmile Fire paused for a moment of silence to recognize the one-year anniversary of the 19 firefighters who were killed battling a wildfire on Yarnell Hill in Arizona.

"That re-emphasized to us the conditions that our firefighters are having to go through out there (at the Eightmile Fire) today," said Amy Ormseth, agency administrator representative.

She said personnel fighting the fire are facing hot conditions in steep, rugged terrain.

"I really want to re-emphasize the message that we've been saying all along, that safety is first and foremost our utmost priority here," she said. "On any operation, safety for the firefighters and the public."

Fire crews have received praise from community members for their work on the 528-acre fire, but managers also have taken heat from some who feel more aggressive measures to contain the fire weren't taken when it was smaller.

Brian Davis, acting district manager for the BLM Colorado Front Range District, said crews received "pretty positive" feedback during a public meeting Saturday night.

Davis is responsible for the personnel working on the fire.

"Their safety is what we think of first," he said. "We balanced the resource conditions, the situation and we made an informed decision."

Dropping water and retardant on the fire slows it down, but it won't extinguish a fire, he said.

Advertisement

"It's also going to take manpower," he said. "You can't do one without the other.

"You're not in a contained bowl where you're suffocating it with a water drop; even then, if you poured water into something like a bowl, and poured it too fast, you could spread a fire."

Ormseth said a wildland fire on landscape is significantly different than a structure fire because it varies from spot to spot.

"When we put people on the ground, we try to anticipate any possible scenario that could place them in danger and how we mitigate for their safety," Davis said. "The last thing either of us as line managers want to do is deal with a line-of-duty death.

"These guys do a good job, and they do a hard job, and we all should be thankful that we have people willing to do it."

Jackie Parks, information officer for the Eightmile Fire, said Friday crews have been working on the fire since it sparked at about 5 p.m. June 23, using local resources the first few days, when the fire was smaller. She said the rugged terrain, the depth downhill and the fuels had made it difficult to gain any containment.

"As the fire started growing, we started ordering in more resources," Parks said Friday. "We've had people on the fire since the beginning."

Davis said in the end, the area will be safer because there will be less fuels.

"We are managing this on the scale it is now for the best benefit to the resources," he said.

Ormseth said that as of Monday afternoon, there haven't been any reports of serious injuries.

"We just hope we can continue the operations as smoothly as that and get to see the smiling faces of each of our firefighters at the end of each day," she said.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story